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President Trump Fires Labor Statistics Head, Reacts To Jobs Data Revision
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August 1, 2025
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41:55
2:33Now PlayingPresident Donald Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics hours after a report showed weak job growth, prompting outcries from economists and policymakers over the integrity of the data going forward.
In a social media post Friday, Trump said he directed his team to fire Erika McEntarfer — who was appointed by Joe Biden — “IMMEDIATELY.” He went on to say that “important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes.”
Friday’s jobs report from the BLS showed payrolls increased 73,000 in July after the prior two months were revised down by nearly 260,000. In the past three months, employment growth has averaged a paltry 35,000 — the worst since the pandemic.
The BLS confirmed that McEntarfer was terminated Friday in an email to Bloomberg News. She was confirmed in January of 2024, an election year, by a vote of 86-8, with then-Senator JD Vance voting “yea.”
William Wiatrowski, deputy BLS commissioner, will serve as acting BLS chief for now, said Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Her department oversees BLS.
While the commissioner role is appointed by the president, BLS describes its work as “independent” and “non-partisan.” Economists and statisticians say this impartiality is key to the public and market’s trust in the data, as trillions of dollars can trade on the numbers at any given time.
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